Media is missing the mark; we want to hear ‘soft’ stories, too
Pet kittens. Modern media are too sombre, in my view. Let’s write about the boring politicians and all that, but then tell me about how your cat is doing, too. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
The “best”media are stentorian and use a mechanical, institutional language unlike anything produced by mortals.
Media, world over, are in a crisis. They are dying because they report the things they think should be reported and in a language that no one speaks.
They are also, many times, distant from the emotional side of the people they address.
Our cat is pregnant. Again. She has grown so fast we haven’t even had time to name her. But it’s our fault, not hers. We are a traumatised dog family and are trying to adjust to a cat.
I get home at night from work and she is usually somewhere in the compound either dozing off or chasing things. She will make some noise, then come out slowly, ignoring me. If she wants me to scratch her ears or belly, she will usually scratch herself against something, make some noise, all the while pretending I don’t exist. So I always go to her and pet her.
STILLBORN LITTER
She has the most lonely eyes I have seen in an animal. Maybe she feels that we are not really cat people and we haven’t embraced her with the same passion as we do dogs.
The first time she gave birth to a premature, stillborn litter in front of the TV in the living room, as cats will do, with saucer-eyed little girls watching in horror and weeping for help. This next time I know it will be a similar disaster; they come when you least expect them. I have no idea what we will do with the kittens. We will probably give them away, committing the crime of separating young ones from their mom.
We have been having a debate in our office about the things we write in our papers and our sites. Is this all we — and the people who read us — care about? How come we don’t have stories about pets, babies, parties, picnics, church, bride price negotiation parties and all those other things that occupy our lives, and from which we derive so much fun? How many people pick up the paper because it is a pleasure to read? Because it makes them chuckle and gives them a warm feeling all over?
Modern media are too sombre, in my view. The content does not reflect the complete life of the average person. Unless you are a tender baron, we don’t spend all our days talking about — or, worse still, doing — corruption. But our outrage about these things consumes us and we can think of little else to put in the news.
LANGUAGE
There is also the journalism culture, which encourages practitioners to lean towards serious issues. Crime, emotion-laden, tear-jerker human interest stories and social issues are termed “soft” or “fluff” while politics, business, diplomacy and security are “hard” news and, therefore, more appropriate.
Media that is full of “soft” content is down-market, while those dominated by hard news are “quality”. The “best”media are stentorian and use a mechanical, institutional language unlike anything produced by mortals.
When I listen to vernacular radio stations, I am usually amazed at the language used, especially in news. Gone is the soup — the sweet, deft, hot, saucy, delicious, funny and naughty overtones of the native African tongue. It is replaced by something that sounds like the town crier reading the Bible.
This institutional language sounds learnt and great for non-native speakers. For native speakers, however, it must be puzzling. They must be asking themselves, “What is this guy on about? Why is he speaking as if he is crunching ball bearings?”
When I was a student at Egerton many years ago, we were taught that grammar is an explanation of how a language works. And there are many types of grammar.
DISTANT
The grammar we are taught in school is called traditional grammar, a rather old-fashioned take-on stuff. There are prescriptive grammars, which tell how a language should be used — this is wrong, this is right. Then there are descriptive grammars. These just show you how language is used; there is no right way, there is no wrong way.
I think the sweetest media — and these are Swahili tabloids and Sheng stations such as Ghetto Radio — are the most refreshing, authentic and great fun too. They are unpretentious and they don’t presume that the way you speak shows your level of education. Why must you always show how clever and educated you are? If you are, you are. If you are not, you are not. And life continues, and you are still a lovely guy, or a bad one, depending on your character.
Media, world over, are in a crisis. They are dying because they report the things they think should be reported and in a language that no one speaks. They are also, many times, distant from the emotional side of the people they address.
I am not saying that we should all be writing sob stories about the cat and nothing else, although that would be quite something. I am saying, let’s write about the boring politicians and all that, but then tell me about how your cat is doing, too.
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My country, right or wrong: I am watching our territorial dispute with Somalia with interest and unease.
The Somali are very good with disputes. And Somalia is a complex situation. When they sneeze, we catch a cold. We share population, a porous border and, with our large native Somali population, which is quite vocal, debate on some of the critical issues is muted and careful. No one wants to give offence.
Kenya is at war with Al-Shabaab. Everything possible should be done — short of ceding an inch of Kenyan territory — to ensure we don’t go to war with the Federal Republic of Somalia as well.
